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Game 48: One Point Short

Posted Apr 28, 2013
by Aaron Portzline
| 0 comments

The Blue Jackets believed they were a team of destiny. As trite as that sounds, a 19-5-5 run to finish the season is something special, the greatest run in franchise history and a supernova of a streak that re-engergized Nationwide Arena and the city.

But the Blue Jackets' season ended last night for one simple, painful reason: the Jackets never controlled their own destiny, not after a 5-12-2 start.

A 3-1 win over Nashville last night before a standing-room-only crowd of 19,002 in Nationwide Arena was a wonderful scene, but it was not enough. The Blue Jackets needed Detroit to lose at Dallas and Minnesota to lose at Colorado, and neither happened.

The Red Wings won 3-0, and the Wild won 3-1, claiming seventh- and eighth-place in the Western Conference standings. The Blue Jackets, though tied with the Wild at 55 points, had fewer regulation-overtime wins (22 vs. 19) and lost out on a tie breaker.

"One point short," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "We came up one point short."

A few thousand folks stayed in Nationwide Arena after the Blue Jackets game to watch the end of the Wild-Avs. There were so many fans packed into the R-Bar - American's best hockey bar -- that a crowd of a hundred or so gathered outside to watch through the windows. Blue Jackets players were watching, too, gathered around TVs in the dressing room.

When the Wild didn't prevail, fans cursed and shouted on their way out of the building. One, though, shouted: "We still love you, Blue Jackets."

The Blue Jackets were not crisp for most of the first two periods. They forced plays and were sloppy with the puck, committing an inordinate number of turnovers. It wasn't until the third period, after Dubinsky's goal, that they finally found their game.

The Predators took a 1-0 lead at 8:29 of the second. Jack Johnson coughed up the puck in the neutral zone, leading to a clean look from the right circle by Predators defenseman Shea Weber. His wrister beat Bobrovsky.

"The guys were kind of gripping in the first two periods, no question about that," Atkinson said. "Third period was do or die. We had to have it."

At 10:09 of the third, after a long cycle in the Predators' zone, winger Marian Gaborik shoveled a puck to Dubinsky alone in the slot. He calmly slid a backhand through the pads of goaltender Chris Mason to make it 1-1.

To this point, the crowd in Nationwide was engaged but nervous. With Dubinsky's goal, they roared, and it freed them the rest of the night.

The Blue Jackets' played as if unemcumbered, too. At 15:12 of the third, Johnson ventured in deep and carried the puck along the goal line, as if preparing for a wrap-around. Instead, he chucked the puck toward Dubinsky, but Weber swatted at it with his stick and put it between Mason's pads.

Mason was pulled with 80 seconds remaining. Atkinson was sprung out of the zone by a Blake Comeau pass and he buried the empty-netter to cap it at 3-1.

"It was electric for sure," Dubinsky said. "The crowd was pretty awesome. It just goes to show you how passionate fans in Columbus can be for their teams. I think these Blue Jackets are a different team, maybe, than they're used to."

The Blue Jackets finished one point out of the playoffs. Former GM Scott Howson's rule did not come back to bite them; they would have lost out to the Wild in the previous tie-breaker scenario (total wins), too.

But this one stings. It stings for many because of the way this team played: so tough, so resilient, so full of passion and energy, even in a season when a compressed schedule made hamburger of their groins.

About two hours after last night's game ended, three mini-dozers came through the Zamboni entrance and started ripping up the ice, always a depressing scene.

Another hockey season has ended in Columbus ... but this was not like so many of the others.

Side dishes:

-- Blue Jackets president John Davidson told The Dispatch shortly after the game that center Ryan Johansen and defenseman Dalton Prout would be sent to AHL Springfield to join the Falcons' playoff drive. Springfield is up 1-0 after a Game 1 win tonight over Manchester.

-- The Blue Jackets have a 0.5 percent chance of winning the NHL draft lottery. They were officially the best non-playoff team. I know you didn't want to read this. So unless they win the lottery, the Jackets will pick 14th and then have two later picks in the first round. They also own the New York Rangers' and Los Angeles Kings' picks.

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